


5:45 AM

by brightblackholes



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: AU, M/M, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2017-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-30 08:30:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12104766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightblackholes/pseuds/brightblackholes
Summary: A winnixThe guy living below me has a really loud alarm clock that always wakes me up at the crack of dawnAU





	5:45 AM

The first time it happens, it takes Nix a good half a day before he figures out what woke him up. He remembers being jolted from sleep and blindly thumping at his alarm clock before cracking his eyes open, seeing the letters read 5:45, and promptly rolling over and going back to sleep. Once he actually gets out of bed and heads to work, he wonders what possibly could have woken him, since he usually sleeps through everything. It takes until after lunch for him to consider the possibility of someone else’s alarm leaking through the thin apartment walls loud enough for him to hear and respond.

The second time it happens, he forces himself to sit up. The clock reads 5:45 again, and by the time he’s got his wits about him it’s silent in his apartment. He thinks he remembers hearing something resembling an alarm in his first second of consciousness. In the room below, it sounds like a bed squeaks, but he’s already put his head back down and fallen asleep.

The third time it happens, it’s on a Saturday. Nix barely has time to wonder who in their right mind would make themselves wake up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday of all days before he’s stuffing his pillow over his head and willing himself to get in a few more hours of sleep before his hangover truly kicks in.

The next time it happens, Nix actually gets up. He doesn’t know why. Most days he can barely get up for work on time, but Nix’s big secret is that when he wants to get up, he can. The problem is that there are very few things that he actually wants to get up for.

Apparently he wants to get up today, because he swings his legs over the side of the bed and pads to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee. After he has a warm mug in his hand, he throws on a sweatshirt and considers wandering down to the apartment below him to ask why the heck the inhabitant feels the need to get up at the crack of dawn every morning and also wake all of the neighbors, but he glances out his window and sees a figure exit the building and start jogging down the street. His copper hair glints in the sunrise, and Nix is willing to bet his father’s fortune that this figure is the early-riser. Something about him positively screams I-Wake-Up-At-The-Crack-Of-Dawn-Even-On-Saturdays.

He spends the morning putzing around his apartment, not knowing what to do with the extra time. After a shower, he actually has time to watch the morning news. He shows up early to work for lack of anything better to do, to the surprise of everyone else in the building.

He also has to buy another cup of coffee that afternoon, stays up late like usual, and sleeps through his alarm the next day.

When Nix has had enough, it’s another Saturday morning, and he has been up all night. He went out with Ron earlier, and it’s always a bit of a competition with them to see who can last the longest. Even after they both return to their respective homes, sleep seems to evade Nix, so his pours himself another drink and puts the TV on mute, because he’s mindful of his neighbors, unlike the alarm guy from downstairs.

(He’s also pretty drunk, which is a feat in itself.)

Before he knows it, time has flown and the alarm of the guy downstairs goes off. Nix glances at the window to see the sky beginning to burst into orange and pink.

This madness has to stop.

He walks down the hallway in a mostly-straight line, takes the stairs down a floor, then stops in front of the door to the room directly underneath his. He thinks he can hear faint movement inside over his breathing, but that’s debatable. He knocks on the door anyway. After a second, the door opens, revealing a tall man with slightly disheveled red hair. His eyes are too bright and alert to have just woken up (and they’re quite nice eyes, too), so Nix knows that he’s found the right person.

“You,” he says, pointing an accusatory finger.

“Me?” the other man asks, bewildered.

“You’re the one who’s always waking me up with your alarm!”

“My alarm?” he asks again. The man seems appropriately abashed, but also more confused than Nix thinks he should be. Maybe he isn’t used to slightly drunk people pounding on his door before the sun has actually risen.

“Yes, your alarm. I live in the apartment above yours and your alarm is really loud!” The man frowns.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize. No one has said anything.”

“I’m saying something!” Nix exclaims. “Why do you have to get up so early every day anyway? This is self-induced torture.”

“It’s just my routine,” the ginger shrugs. Nix looks at him like he’s certifiably insane, which he might as well be. Who gets up this early because of routine?

“Wow,” is all he says. Then, as if the tiredness, alcohol, and surprise hits him all at once, he sits down right there in the hallway.

“Er--Can I get you anything?” the ginger asks.

“I am very tired and slightly drunk,” he replies. The corner of the other man’s mouth quirks up, and Nix’s heart stops for a second. He needs to see that happen again.

“I can see that,” the man says, and Nix has to take a second to figure out what he’s replying to and get over the shock of the lip quirk. “Do you need some water, or help getting back to your room?”

Nix decides to take this opportunity to get physically close to the other man and lean on him more than necessary on the way up to his apartment. He thinks the other man--who’s name is Richard Winters--suspects what he’s doing the entire time, but he still lets him get away with it. Once they get back to his apartment, Nix keeps Dick there and talking right up until he nods off.

The next time he wakes up because of the alarm in Dick’s room, he doesn’t hesitate to pull out the pillow from under his head and smack Dick with it.

“I can’t believe you didn’t turn off your alarm,” he grumbles as the other man hastens to silence it.

“I was a bit preoccupied,” Dick says in a voice low and gravely enough to send shivers up Nix’s spine.

“You better not think about getting up,” he says. Thankfully, he feels arms around him again a moment later.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Dick says. Nix hums happily and drifts back to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find this story on tumblr [here](https://band-of-bros.tumblr.com/post/164027766895/the-guy-living-below-me-has-a-really-loud-alarm).
> 
> Honestly, I don't think this is my best work But I wanted to post it here anyway. Comments and kudos are always appreicated.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
